The video game market in Germany grew by 6 percent to €6.2 billion ($6.7 billion) in 2019 thanks to a rise in online service subscriptions and in-game spending.

According to the German Games Industry Association, known simply as Game, sales of game hardware actually dipped by 2 percent in 2019, but consumers drove overall growth by spending more on services and software.

The chart below, based on data collected by market research and analytics companies GfK and App Annie, breaks down that spending increase, and shows that €3.9 billion ($4.2 billion) of the market’s overall €6.2 billion ($6.7 billion) income was generated by in-game purchases, online subscriptions, and software sales (‘purchases’).

The amount spent on online services alone rose by 31 percent in 2019, showing that German players dropped more cash on subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass and Origin Access as well as online plans for the likes of Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus.

Commenting on the news, Game managing director Felix Falk said the German games market had done “amazingly well” in 2019.

“Up to now, the years at the end of a console generation have been comparatively weaker economically. But we aren’t seeing any of that now. Revenue models like in-game purchases and fees for online services have become important columns for the games market,” they explained.

“This means that, alongside the classic purchase of computer and video games, the long-term use of game titles is playing an ever greater role. The dynamic growth shows once again that games are one of the most important drivers of the digital world.”

Update (Fri 24th Apr, 2020 14:30 BST): As a quick reminder, Tetris 99’s 12th Maximus Cup begins today. You can find all the details you need in our original article below – make sure you compete to add that lovely Ring Fit theme to your collection!

Original Article (Tue 21st Apr, 2020 02:45 BST): Nintendo’s exercise game Ring Fit Adventure has previously received a special event in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and later this week on 24th April, Tetris 99 will host its very own Ring Fit themed event.

Of course, this is all part of Tetris 99’s 12th Maximus Cup. This event allows players to earn a new in-game theme that brings the invigorating atmosphere of the two games together. You’ll have until 27th April to add it to your collection.

All you need to do during this period is play Tetris 99’s online mode. As usual, you’ll earn points based on your placement in each match, and once you’ve accumulated 100 of them, this new theme will be unlocked. It features background art, music and Tetrimo designs inspired by Ring Fit Adventure.

Will you be participating in this event later this week? Which game do you play more often – Tetris 99 or Ring Fit Adventure? Tell us down below.

Problem: Given a Python tuple with n elements. How to convert it into a list with the same n elements?

Examples:

• Convert tuple (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) into list [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
• Convert tuple ('Alice', 'Bob', 'Ann') into list ['Alice', 'Bob', 'Ann'].
• Convert tuple (1,) into list [1].

Note Tuple: Tuples are similar to lists—with the difference that you cannot change the tuple values (tuples are immutable) and you use parentheses rather than square brackets.

Solution: Use the built-in Python list() function to convert a list into a tuple. You don’t need to import any external library.

Code: The following code converts the three given tuples into lists.

tuple_1 = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

print(list(tuple_1))

# [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] tuple_2 = ('Alice', 'Bob', 'Ann')

print(list(tuple_2))

# ['Alice', 'Bob', 'Ann'] tuple_3 = (1,)

print(list(tuple_3))

# [1]

Try It Yourself: With our interactive code shell, you can try it yourself. As a small exercise, try to convert the empty tuple () into a list and see what happens.

Explanation: You can see that converting a tuple with one element leads to a list with one element. The list() function is the easiest way to convert a tuple into a list. Note that the values in the tuple are not copied—only a new reference to the same element is created:

The graphic also shows how to convert a tuple back to a list by using the tuple() function (that’s also a Python built-in function). Thus, calling list(tuple(lst)) on a list lst will result in a new list with the same elements.

Related articles:

• List copy
• List complete guide
• Convert list to tuple
• Convert list to dict

Try to execute this code with the interactive Python tutor:

Beef is an in development programming language designed specifically for games and similar performance critical applications.  This comment from Hacker News best sums up the intentions of the BEEF language:

Author here. I’m the engineering co-founder of PopCap Games. I left PopCap after the EA acquisition, and I’ve been working on this project mostly full-time for the last five years.

Before Beef, I was developing game code in C# and engine code in C++ and I felt C# was just much more pleasant to work with – faster compile times, better IDE tooling, better errors, etc. Then it struck me that none of the things I liked about C# really had anything to do with the JIT or the GC, and it may be possible to create a “best of” merging between C# and C++.

I know there are other “C replacement” contenders out there – the differences are probably best explained through Beef’s specific design goals listed at https://www.beeflang.org/docs/foreward/

Beef consists of a complete compiler tool chain built on an LLVM backend, as well as a full IDE with modern features such as refactoring and code completion as well as a complete debugger and profiler.  It is available as a small (>100MB) download for Windows, or can be built from sources on Mac and Linux environments.

The Beef homepage is available here.

The Beef documentation is available here.

The move recent versions release notes are available here.

You can learn more about the Beef language and see the IDE in action in the video below.

GameDev News Programming C# CPP

Today, I’m excited to share some big news with you—Fedora Workstation will be available on Lenovo ThinkPad laptops! Yes, I know,  many of us already run a Fedora operating system on a Lenovo system, but this is different. You’ll soon be able to get Fedora pre-installed by selecting it as you customize your purchase. This is a pilot of Lenovo’s Linux Community Series – Fedora Edition, beginning with ThinkPad P1 Gen2, ThinkPad P53, and ThinkPad X1 Gen8 laptops, possibly expanding to other models in the future.

The Lenovo team has been working with folks at Red Hat who work on Fedora desktop technologies to make sure that the upcoming Fedora 32 Workstation is ready to go on their laptops. The best part about this is that we’re not bending our rules for them. Lenovo is following our existing trademark guidelines and respects our open source principles. That’s right—these laptops ship with software exclusively from the official Fedora repos! When they ship, you’ll see Fedora 32 Workstation. (Models which can benefit from the NVIDIA binary driver can install it in the normal way after the fact, by opting in to proprietary software sources.)

Obviously, this is huge for us. Our installer aims to make the complicated process of installing Fedora to replace another operating system as easy as possible, but it’s still a barrier even for tech-literate people. A major-brand laptop with Fedora pre-installed will help bring Fedora to a wider audience. That and Lenovo’s commitment to fixing issues as part of the community means that everyone benefits from their Linux engineering work in the true spirit of open source collaboration.

As Mark Pearson, Sr. Linux Developer, from Lenovo said, “Lenovo is excited to become a part of the  Fedora community. We want to ensure an optimal Linux experience on our products. We are committed to working with and learning from the open source community.” Mark Pearson will be the featured guest in May’s Fedora Council Video Meeting – get your questions ready.

I’ll have more details about this project as we get closer to the launch. In the meantime, I invite you to come to our Open Neighborhood virtual booth at Red Hat Summit on April 28-29. The entire event is free and open to all.

Nexon’s upcoming multiplayer kart racer, KartRider Rush+, has hit three million pre-registrations in a single week, which is quite astounding really. The pre-registration period began on April 16, and on April 23, Nexon reported that over three million hungry mobile gamers had hit that pre-registration button already. It seems that Mario Kart Tour has some stiff competition on its hands.

You may recognise the name. That’s because KartRider is a fairly long-running series, with the first entry launching on PC back in 2004. This isn’t even the first time the series has made it to mobile, as another entry, KartRider Rush, launched on the App Store back in 2011. This is basically a bigger and better version of that.

It features a story mode, which introduces you to the various game modes. You can think of it as kind of a lengthy, and more entertaining, tutorial. In terms of modes, there’s Speed, which challenges you to go fast across a series of winding tracks, Arcade, which features sub-modes Item Race, Infini-Boost, and Lucci Runner. Rounding out the modes is Time Trial, which pits you against the clock, and Ranked, which challenges you to race through the ranks and show off your skills.

When not racing you can customise your racer with a wide variety of outfits, accessories, and karts. There’s a ton of cosmetic options, including decals and pets. You can also form a club with other players and participate in quests together, customise your own home, and participate in minigames.

KartRider Rush+ is expected to land on May 31 so there’s still time to pre-register for it if you’re interested. You’ll earn the following rewards at launch just for doing so:

• Skelemech kart
• Sluggar Dao character
• 5,000 turbo crystals
• Angel wing headgear
• Star driftmoji
• 1,000 Lucci coins
• 3,000 k-coins
• 500 Lucci

You’ll also earn bonus rewards for pre-registering via Google Play or the App Store, including:

• Prism plate
• Prism helmet
• CA goggles
• CA plate

If you’re interested, you can pre-register right now on the official site, or via Google Play or the App Store. We’ll see you at the starting line on May 31.